By Daniel Njienue, news, April 13, 2019
Delta-It was a black Wednesday, April 10, 2019 as the people of Owah Abbi in Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta, rose to lamentation of tears when Fulani herdsmen killed three of their young promising men, lucky Onyenibe, Uchejim Ugochukwu and Okwuazu Chukwuneku, who were on their way to farming in Olimele , boundary axis between Delta and Edo state. According to community sources, it was a reprisal attack from the killer herdsmen who alleged that their cows were killed and one of their men also. Afrikanwatch could not confirmed this as at the time of filing this report. The herders were also alleged to would have barred farmers and labourers within the neighboring villages around Olimele from gaining access into farmlands.
Our correspondent who visited the community spoke with Comrade Ernest Ndudi Chukwuma, Owah Abbi Youth Chairman, who said that in the history of the community, they have never experienced such a heinous act. “This is the first time the community would be losing three of her able body men who went to farm in search of their daily bread to herdsmen. In fact, it was a black Wednesday in our community”
“The issue of herdsmen terror in our local government has been a recurrent one, and government is doing nothing about it, maybe it’s time we take our destiny in our hands and defend ourselves against these herdsmen”
Comrade Chukwuma further noted “ our community has suffered from rape, humiliation, matched wound,, burning of motorcycles and destruction of crops with cattle’s but this is the first time we are recording death :I appeal to government to do the needful and ensure the evil act of the herders will not continue”.
Also speaking, one of the relatives to one the deceased Mr. Cyril Odede, a cousin to the late lucky Onyenibe said, very early in the morning, his brother woke up with the other two boys and headed to the farm and later that same morning the news came to the community that they were shot by herdsmen along Olimele farmland.
“So I went to see what was going on over there only to see them lifeless, I was seriously touched by the incident even till now am still feeling the pains. He also appeal to government security agencies to fish out the killers of the three young men and ensure that logistics are put in place to save lives of people.
An attempt to reach the Police public relations office of the state, Inspector Chuks Orisewezie was not successful, a text message sent to him on the issue, no response, also a message to the commissioner of information, Mr. Patrick Ukah, to speak on how the state government is making effort to curb the ugly situation proved abortive.
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